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1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984. When Tehran, the only other interested city on the international level, declined to bid due to the concurrent Iranian political and social changes the IOC awarded Los Angeles the Games by default. This was the second occasion Los Angeles hosted the games; it previously hosted in 1932. In response to the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, 14 Eastern Bloc countries including the Soviet Union, Cuba and East Germany (but not Romania) boycotted the Games. For differing reasons, Iran and Libya also boycotted. The USSR announced its intention not to participate on May 8, 1984, citing security concerns and "chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria being whipped up in the United States." Despite the boycott, the Los Angeles Olympic Games attracted a then-record 140 participating nations, and 60 more than those attending the Moscow games four years earlier, which had experienced a far wider international boycott. However, the Los Angeles boycott influenced a large number of events that were normally dominated by the absent countries. Boycotting countries organized another large event in June–September 1984, called the Friendship Games; however, not even a single competition was held between July 28 and August 12. Representatives of the organizing countries, in particular the USSR, underlined it was "not held to replace the Olympics". Elite athletes from the U.S. and USSR would only compete against each other at the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow, organized in response to the boycotts. Format of Competition The artistic gymnastics competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics was carried out in three stages: *Competition I - The team competition/qualification round in which all gymnasts, including those who were not part of a team, performed both compulsory and optional exercises. The combined scores of all team members determined the final score of the team. The thirty-six highest scoring gymnasts in the all-around qualified to the individual all-around competition. The six highest scoring gymnasts on each apparatus qualified to the final for that apparatus. *Competition II - The individual all-around competition, in which those who qualified from Competition I performed exercises on each apparatus. The final score of each gymnast was composed of half the points earned by that gymnast during Competition I and all of the points earned by her in Competition II. *Competition III - The apparatus finals, in which those who qualified during Competition I performed an exercise on the individual apparatus on which she had qualified. The final score of each gymnast was composed of half the points earned by that gymnast on that particular apparatus during Competition I and all of the points earned by her on that particular apparatus in Competition III. Each country was limited to three gymnasts in the all-around final and two gymnasts in each apparatus final. Results Notable Moments *USA's Mary Lou Retton became the first American gymnast and first gymnast outside the Eastern Bloc to win the all-around. *Seventeen perfect tens were scored at these Olympics, five by USA's Julianne McNamara, four by Romania's Ecaterina Szabo, four by Retton, three by China's Ma Yanhong, and one by Romania's Simona Pauca. Medal Count Category:Olympic Games Category:1984 Competitions